Hopefully you saw my feelings regarding the forthcoming world cup, and the human rights track record of Qatar in both the building of the stadia and the use of migrant workers, as well as their treatment of the LGBTQ community. It doesn’t sit well with me and I doubt I’m alone. 

So, an alternative world cup, or at least something about all the countries competing. Over the course of the next month or so, I’m going to cooking and eating, the national (ish) dish of each of the competing nations. When I say ‘national (ish)’ it means that some places might have a slightly alternative national dish. France for example, their national dish is something called ‘Pot-au-feu’, which is basically a big stew of boiled meat and vegetables. Which is eaten in 2 parts, firstly the cooking liquor (no thickening or anything) as a consomme, stock-type soup, then the boiled meat and vegetables. How very dull. And when I think of french cooking, I think of coq au vin, frogs legs, or of course, croissants. 

I didn’t fancy frogs legs, and I also didn’t think I’d be able to source any in the UK, but you can get them from big wholesale fish suppliers. It turns out that they’re pretty expensive, but also full of omega 3, very low in fat (which is good because they’re traditionally deep fried) and really high in protein. Not sure why I’m still banging on about frogs legs when I’ve got croissants to make.

My updates over the next month or so will probably will daily, which is a lot for me, so please do come back and find out what I’ve been cooking and eating from around the world.